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Wet weather contributes to mulitple crashes in northern Utah; more snow and rain expected

Posted at 6:56 PM, Apr 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-08 23:58:06-04

SALT LAKE VALLEY - Spring showers and wet roads kept Utah Highway Patrol troopers busy Saturday morning, with dozens of accidents happening in the Salt Lake Valley.

“As of about 11 o-clock we had 30 different crashes across the valley here, that’s a lot of crashes for a Saturday morning,” said John Gleason, a Utah Department Of Transportation spokesman.

Many people sat in what might have seemed like rush-hour traffic as they waited for dozens of crashes to be cleaned up.

“Most of them were people maybe just driving a little too fast for conditions, they hit some wet spots and started hydroplaning,” Gleason said.

UDOT says spring weather often gives drivers a false sense of security, but, added that the caution needed to drive in the snow is also paramount when driving in the rain.

“Many of us think - I can handle that but, what you don't anticipate are the puddles in the road, the standing water that we see often times with spring storms like this,” Gleason said.

And meteorologist Glen Merril of the National Weather Service says when it comes to having a wet winter and spring, “We're not over yet."

More storms and a lot more rain are ahead.

“Right now, what we're confident in is that we're not going to just build high pressure over us and just get really warm for an extended period of time,” Merril said.

They say for sure the next 10 days look active.

“We'll just see how it pans out, but right now it doesn't look like we're just going to snap into summer quickly,” Merril said.

The good news is that the National Weather Service says we're in great shape as far as our water supply goes. The bad news is that Utah drivers will likely have to keep carefully navigating those puddles.

“If you're not prepared for it, it you're driving at freeway speeds, you really could pay a price,” Gleason said.

More storms are expected over the weekend, and some northern Utah valleys could see accumulations of about an inch of snow overnight into Sunday.